Method of stitching strands of simulated hair to a workpiece and of brushing aside loose ends of hair



y B. 'SOTZKY 3,013,567 METHOD OF STITCHING STRANDS OF SIMULATED HAIR TOA WORKPIECE Dec. 19, 1961 AND OF BRUSHING ASIDE LOOSE ENDS OF HAIR 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 10, 1953 IN VEN TOR.

III wulalllfl Dec. 19, 1961 SQTZKY 3,013,567

METHOD OF STITCHING STRANDS OF SIMULATED HAIR TO A WORKPIECE AND OFBRUSHING ASIDE LOOSE ENDS OF HAIR Filed March 10, 1953 4 Sheets-$heet 2f kk PIC-3.5.

IN VEN TOR.

3,013,567 STRANDS 0F SIMULATED HAIR TO A WORKPIECE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN TOR.

UWAwE mm @M B. SOTZKY Dec. 19, 1961 METHOD OF STITCHING STRANDS OFSIMULATED HAIR TO A WORKPIECE AND OF BRUSHING ASIDE LOOSE ENDS OF HAIRFiled. March 10, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 3,013,567 Patented Dec. 19, 1961ice 3,013,567 METHOD OF STITCHHNG STRANDS LATED HAIR TO A WORKPIECE ANDOF BRUSHING ASIDE LOOSE ENDS OF HAIR Bernard Sotzky, Flushing, N.Y.,assignor to Rooted Hair, Inc, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New YorkFiled Mar. 10, 1953, Ser. No. 341,588 8 Claims. (Cl. 1325) Thisinvention relates broadly to the manufacture of dolls heads and moreparticularly to an attachment for a high cost, chain-stitch producingsewing machine, whereby hair may be fed to the needlecontinuously and inequal quantities.

When, in the manufacture of dolls heads, a product such as vinyl plasticor any other suitable and desirable resilient material is used, it isfound to be highly desirable to root hair midway its length into thescalp, thus permitting the ends of each strand of rooted hair to remainunattached, for combing and dressing. For the uninterrupted operation ofthe sewing machine mechanism used for this purpose, hair must be fed tothe needle continuously, and for the production of uniformly perfectheads of rooted hair, simulated hair must be fed to the needle of themechanism in equal quantities.

With this in view, it is the principal object of the present inventionto provide a presser foo-t for use in association with a higher post,chain-stitch producing sewing machine, the presser foot being soconstructed that a hair containing feeder may pass partly through thepresser foot in order to follow the needle in its movement.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sewingmachine mechanism of the character described with a feeder, upon whichare placed transversely strands of simulated hair which are successivelyremoved by the hooked end of the needle, the arrangement being such thatall quantities of hair removed from the feeder contain substantiallyequal numbers of strands.

And a still further advantage of the present invention resides in theprovision of an attachment for a sewing machine mechanism of thecharacter described, the purpose of which is to wipe the loose ends ofrooted hair out of the path of the vertically reciprocating needle.

And still another purpose of the present invention resides in theprovision of a guard rail for the ends of the wiper arms to prevent themfrom slipping out of their adjusted positions.

These and other meritorious aims and advantages, which will become morefully apparent as the description hereof proceeds, are attained by thenovel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafterdescribed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing,.

forming a material component of this disclosure, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a partial side elevational view of a sewing machine, showingthe attachments of the present invention secured thereto, the feederbeing illustrated in its retracted position and the needle in itsdownward position.

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic view of the hair-containing feeder and partof the needle, showing the needle up and the feeder advanced.

FIGURE 3 is a front sectional view of the sewing machine illustrated inFIGURE 1, the section being taken on a line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is another sectional view, the section being taken on line 44of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is still another sectional view, the section being taken online 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic view in perspective of the hair-containingfeeder, showing strands of hair positioned transversely thereacross.

OF SIMU- FIGURE 6a is a cross-sectional view of the hair-containingfeeder shown in FIGURE 6, illustrating the track in which the feederoscillates.

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic view of the hooked end of the verticallyreciprocating needle, showing the needle after it has penetrated thescalp of a dolls head and has drawn a quantity of strands of hairthrough the scalp.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary view of a dolls scalp, showing a quantity ofhair chain-stitched to the interior thereof.

FIGURE 9 is a detail view in perspective of the presser foot whichconstitutes a part of the present invention.

FIGURE 10 is a front view, partly in dot and dash lines, of a high-post,chain-stitch producing sewing machine to which the attachments of thepresent invention have been applied.

FIGURE 11 is a diagrammatic view of the pattern in which the needlereciprocates.

Referring in greater detail to the drawings, the numeral 20 illustratesin general the upper part of a conventional high-post, chain-stitchproducing sewing machine mechanism, which is preferably used inconnection with the present invention. Upper portion 20 is illustratedas comprising a machine head 21,-a needle plate 23, a verticallyreciprocating needle 24, the upper end of the needle being hooked as at26 and a needle bar 25. All of these several elements are standardequipment of sewing machine mechanisms of the type herein referred toand do not form a part of the present invention.

Extending from the front of the machine head 21 is a machine headextension 27, and extending from the back of the machine head 21 is amachine head extension 28. Extending downwardly from the machine head 21is a presser foot bar 21a to which is attached a presser foot 22, theconstruction of which constitutes a part of the present invention andwhich will hereinafter be more fully described. A hair-containingfeeder, generally referred to by the numeral 29, is oscillatingly orrockingly mounted on feeder support 30, the feeder 29 oscillating orrocking back and forth substantially on a horizontal plane in track 31.The reason for this arrangement will presently become more fullyapparent.

Extending transversely through machine head 21 is a conventionalhorizontal drive shaft 32, which is actuated in a conventional manner byan electric motor (not shown) or in any other desirable and suitablemanner.

Mounted on drive shaft 32 of machine head 21 is a sprocket 35 adapted torotate with sprocket 38 which is mounted on shoulder screw 32a at theend of machine head extension 27. Sprockets 35 and 38 are joined by achain 49 as illustrated in FIGURE 1 of the drawings.

Superimposed on sprocket 35 is a sprocket 36 cooperating with a largersprocket 37 on shaft 32b at the end of machine head extension 28,sprockets 36 and 3-7 being joined by a continuous chain 39. The relativesizes of the several sprockets, as here illustrated, are such, thatsprockets 35, 36 and 38 will rotate four times to each completerevolution of sprocket 37, for a purpose which will presently beexplained.

Mounted on shaft 32b is a bevel gear 41 in mesh with a bevel gear 42,bevel gear 42 being mounted at one end of a vertically extendingrotatable shaft 43, the said shaft 43 rotating in such manner, as toimpart horizontally rotating motion to wiper 45 attached thereto. Thelower portion of shaft 43 is provided with a spline 44 on which wiper 45may move up and down. Shaft 46 rotates in bracket 47 which is anextension of member 28.

Foot bar 21a, which is a part of the machine head 21 and thus is a partof the standard and conventional equipment of the sewing machinemechanism herein referred to,

" has secured thereto by means of a set screw 54 or in any othersuitable and desirable manner, a presser foot 22 constructed inaccordance with the present invention.

Presser foot 22 comprises two vertically extending, spaced apart stems50 joined across the top by a horizontal member 53 and across the bottomby a horizontal member 51, centrally of its length, member 51 isprovided with an opening 52 for the passage of needle 24 therethrough aswill hereinafter be further explained. Member 53 may be providedcentrally thereof with a tapered opening 54a for set screw 54. Are-enforcing' bracket 53a may be secured to member 53, the other end ofbracket 53 may be secured to the hub of wiper 45 by ball bearing 44a.Whenever it becomes desirable or necessary to allow for greaterclearance, one of the uprights 50 may be eliminated, since the presserfoot will accomplish its purpose effectively even when only one upright50 is used.

Many kinds of hair-containing feeders or hair holders 29 may be used inconnection with this invention. One type of hair-containing feeder isillustrated in the drawings. Hair-containing feeder 2? is formed from aunitary piece of material such as metal, which is bent upon itselfcentrally thereof to form an upper and a lower member, the two membersbeing spaced apart as is shown in the drawings. Centrally of its frontedge, a needle opening 59 may be provided, through which the hooked end26 of vertically reciprocating needle 24 may enter during its upwardstroke and engage and withdraw successive quantities of hair at thebeginning of its downward stroke. At its rear, feeder 29 may be providedWtih a plunger 57, normally urged toward the front of edge of feeder 29by plunger shaft 66 actuated by a spring 53.

A bar 60 is provided near one of its ends with an elongated slot 61 andnear its other end with another elongated slot 62. Superimposed uponsprocket 38 is an eccentric 63 to which is secured one end of auniversal shaft 64, its other end being provided with an adjusting screw65, slidably engaged in slot 61 in such manner that arm 64 will extendhorizontally and bar 60 will extend vertically. Feeder 29, at the rearthereof, may be provided with an operating lug 67 engageable in slot 62of bar 60. Substantially midway of its length, bar 68 may be fulcrumed,as at 80, to a support arm 81, which extends from member 27.

The rotatably mounted hair wiper 45 which constitutes a part of thepresent invention is here illustrated as comprising four arms '71 spacedequi-distant from each other, each of the said arms 71 terminating in acurved finger 72. In order to prevent fingers 72 from slipping out oftheir adjusted positions, there may be provided a circular track '73 inwhich fingers 72 rotate. Track 73 may be secured to member 51 of presserfoot 22 by screws 74 or in any other suitable and desirable manner. Oneside of member 51 of presser foot 22 may be curved, as at 51a, thecurved portion being provided with openings 39a for the passage ofscrews therethrough, by which feeder track support 30 may be screwed tomember of presser foot 22.

The upper horizontal member 53 of presser foot 22 may be provided withan opening 21b centrally thereof for the pasasge of presser foot bar 21atherethrough, and with an opening 54a in alinement therewith for thepassage of a screw or other retaining means therethrough, by which thepresser foot 22 may be secured to presser foot bar 21a. Disc 70 of track73 may be provided with a curved extension 7 9a corresponding in contourto the contour of the curved portion Sl'a of presser foot member 51,where the disc 70 of track 73 may be secured to member 51 by screws 74or otherwise, as at 74a.

Head 21 may be mounted upon base 210 in a conventional manner, the saidhead being provided with a conventional activating wheel 21d for shaft32, the wheel 21d being provided with a conventional continuous belt21a.

The device operates as follows:

When it is desired toroot simulated hair into the scalp of a dolls head,the head is placed upon the needle plate 23 in such manner, that onepart of it will extend downwardly alongside needle plate 23, and theother part will lie alongside needle 24 and needle bar 25, the partactually in work resting upon the horizontal part of needle plate 23. Inits inoperative position, the vertically reciproeating needle will bedown and the presser foot 22 will be down (see FIGURE 1). When themachine is activated in the conventional manner, the needle willreciprocate upwardly and the presser foot will remain down. Member 51 ofpresser foot 22 is provided with a slot 52 through which the needlereciprocates. During its upward stroke, the hooked end 26 of needle 24will penetrate the work piece 76. Presser foot 22 will advance upwardly,releasing the work piece, and the needle will move backward, carryingthe work piece with it. Thereupon the needle reciprocates downwardly andthe presser foot goes down to hold the work piece; thence the needlegoes forward and the pattern starts again.

Simultaneously with the reciprocatory movement of the needle and thepresser foot, the following occurs: Activation of shaft 32 causessprocket 35 which is mounted thereon, to rotate. Rotation of sprocket 35will cause sprocket 38, which is connected thereto by chain 40, torotate. Rotative movement of sprocket 38 causes the rotation of theeccentric 63 which is superimposed thereon, moving the eccentric arm 64forward and backward. This causes bar 6i! to oscillate forward andbackward (see FIGURES l and 2). As bar 69' below fulcrum point 39, movesaway from the needle 24, feeder 29 will move away from the needle. Whenthe needle 24 goes backward, feeder 29 will advance toward the needle.When the needle 24 reciprocates downwardly, its hooked end passesthrough opening 59 in hair-containing feeder 29 and engages and removessuccessive quantities of strands of simulated hair 75 from the feederand draws them through the work piece 76 (FIGURE 7).

The size of sprocket 37 in relation to sprockets 35, 36 and 38 is such,that sprockets 35, 36 and 38 will rotate four times to each completerevolution of sprocket 37. The sprockets are so synchronized that,whenever the needle reciprocates downwardly in its backward position,the finger 72 of one of the arms 71 will contact the loose ends of haircarried by the needle and wipe them out of the path of the verticallyreciprocating needle.

Many modifications are apparent and others will become apparent throughuse. For instance, there is shown and described a ratio of 4 to 1between sprocket 37 and the other sprockets, since the wiper isillustrated as having four arms. The ratio would obviously change if thenumber of arms in the wiper were to change, thus a ratio of 3 to 1 wouldbe required if there were three arms, a ratio of 5 to l for five armsetc. Another obvious expedient would be the use of direct gearinginstead of the use of sprockets as shown. The mounting of the drivingsprockets is optional in various locations on the shaft or relatedshafts of the machine.

Thus there has been shown and described a mechanism for feeding hair tothe needle of a sewing machine continuously and in equal quantities inthe preferred form of its embodiment. It is to be understood that thisdisclosure is to be regarded as descriptive and illustrative only of thebest known form of its embodiment and not as restrictive or limitativeto the exact details shown, applicant reserving the right to make suchchanges in the construction of his invention as may come within thescope of the appended claims without thereby departing either from thespirit or the scope of the present invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. The method of chain-stitching strands of simulated hair to theinterior of a dolls scalp which comprises the steps of verticallyreciprocating the hooked end of a needle into, through and out of adolls scalp, advancing the needle past a hair-containing feeder, causingthe needle to engage strands of hair on the feeder and to draw the hairdownwardly from the feeder through the scalp midway the length or" thestrands of hair, chainstitching the hair to the interior of the scalp,and by mechanical means brushing the free ends of chain-stitched hairout of the path of the reciprocating needle.

2. The process of stitching strands of simulated hair to the interior ofa dolls scalp which comprises the steps of vertically reciprocating thehooked end of a needle into, through and out of a dolls scalp, advancingthe needle past a hair-containing feeder, causing the needle to engagestrands of hair on the feeder and to draw the hair downwardly from thefeeder through the scalp, stitching the hair to the interior of thescalp and by mechanical means brushing aside the free ends of stitchedhair out of the path of the reciprocating needle.

3. The method of stitching strands of simulated hair to the underside ofa workpiece which comprises the steps of vertically reciprocating thehooked end of a needle into, through and out of a workpiece, advancingthe needle past a source of supply of simulated hair, causing the needleto engage strands of hair from said source of supply and to draw saidstrands of hair through said workpiece, stitching said hair to theunderside of said workpiece and by mechanical means brushing aside andholding down the free ends of stitched hair out of the path of thereciprocating needle.

4. In a machine for rooting hair into a dolls head, said machine havinga vertical post for supporting said dolls head, said post having avertical passage extending therethrough, a vertically reciprocableneedle movable through said passage in said post, and means for movingsaid dolls head in a predetermined direction relative to said post; apresser foot including a bar movable to and from a position in whichsaid bar is adapted to engage said dolls head for holding it againstsaid post and from and to a position in which said bar is spaced fromsaid dolls head to permit movement thereof relative to said post, meansfor moving said bar to and from said two positions, said bar beingprovided with a slot to permit passage of said needle therethrough, saidslot extending in the direction of movement of said dolls head to theedge thereof to permit movement of the free ends of the hair out of thepath of the needle.

5. In a machine for rooting hair into a dolls head, said machine havingan upwardly extending vertical post for supporting said dolls head, saidpost having a vertical passage extending therethrough, a verticallyreciprocable needle movable upwardly and downwardly through said passagein said post, and means for moving said dolls head in a predetermineddirection relative to said post; a presser foot including a horizontalbar disposed above said post, said bar being movable to and from a lowerposition in which said bar is adapted to engage said dolls head forholding it against said post and from and to a raised position in whichsaid bar is spaced from said dolls head to permit movement thereofrelative to said post, means for moving said bar to and from said twopositions, said bar being provided with a slot to permit passage of saidneedle therethrough, said slot extending in the direction of movement ofsaid dolls head to the edge thereof.

6. The method of chain-stitching simulated hair to the interior of thescalp of a dolls head, comprising the steps of moving the hooked end ofa needle from the inside,

of said head, through said scalp to the outside of said head, causingsaid hooked end to grasp a strand of hair while said hooked end isoutside of said head, moving said hooked end together with the graspedportion of said strand in the reverse direction through said scalp intothe interior of said head, chain-stitching said strand at the interiorof said head, and moving the portion of said strand on the outside ofsaid scalp out of the path of said needle.

7. The method of chain-stitching strands of simulated hair to theinterior of a dolls scalp, said method comprising the steps of:vertically moving the hooked end of a needle into, through and out of adolls scalp; advancing the needle past a hair containing feeder; causingthe needle to engage a strand of hair supported by the feeder; anddrawing the hair downwardly from the feeder through the scalp;chain-stitching the hair to the interior of the scalp; and by mechanicalmeans brushing the free ends or chain-stitched hair extending above thescalp out of the path of the moving needle.

8. The method of stitching strands of simulated hair to a workpiece,said method comprising the steps of: vertically moving the hooked end ofa needle into, through, and out of a workpiece in one direction;advancing the needle past a source of supply of simulated hair havingfree ends; causing the needle to engage hair from said source of supply;drawing the engaged hair through said workpiece in the other direction;stitching the hair drawn through the workpiece to the underside thereof;and by mechanical means brushing aside the free ends of the stitchedhair exposed above the workpiece out of the path of the moving needle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,090,198 Butler Mar. 17, 1914 2,600,597 Winberg June 17, 1952 2,636,460Seiderman Apr. 28, 1953 2,637,289 Grant et al. May 5, 1953 2,667,879Mann et al. Feb. 2, 1954 2,670,570 Gnaizda Mar. 2, 1954 2,686,305 HallAug. 10, 1954 2,687,703 Shotsky Aug. 31, 1954 2,698,019 Sotzky Dec. 28,1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 17,013 Great Britain 1910

